I'll be honest, the recently downloaded Wall-E game by Jeffrey Beyer inspired me to write this article. I don't want to slate Jeffrey's game because a) his game wasn't that bad (i gave it ) and b) that's rude even if i wanted to. My beef is with the general poor quality of film licensed games. Now turn off your Death Magnetic cds and pay attention!

Why are commercial film games so poor? This is usually due to a combination of reasons;

1. They tend to get made within a short space of time, usually to coincide with the release of the film it's based on. From beginning to end, it's not uncommon to find these games completed in a year, where-as most commercial games take atleast 2 years and some even longer (think Duke Nukem Forever lol).

2. The game developers are tied to a story already written and this limits creative design. The game is built around the film and not gameplay, with quality suffers as a result.

3. Most film tie-ins are aimed at 8-15 year olds and for some reason publishers think that the only games these people play are 3rd person shooters/platformers and GTA clones (think the Spiderman/Hulk/Fantastic Four games, all pretty similar movie license-fodder)

4. Finally, these types of games sell, and sell well, so why should publishers tell developers to change how the next one is made??

As independant developers, the people in The Daily Click community have numerous advantages over commercial game developers when it comes to film-based games. But how? Look below to see some of these reasons;

1. We are not restricted by time limits. Our games do not have to be rushed out to coincide with film releases and maximise sales. Therefore we can take as long as is needed to build a truly original game. This also means that older films can be explored too! A fan game based on Short Circuit wouldn't look out of place on TDC's downloads page, but the idea of making this game would be laughed all the way out of the boardroom in EA's offices!

2. We are not restricted by profit margins. This kind of links in with not having to finish the game by the film's release, yet it has a more important significance than that. Because the game isn't being driven by business managers and corporate sheep, the game can be made to play as whatever you want! We are not required to make Generic Web-slinging clone #489 with the character changed to Batman instead. Think the best film tie-ins; Goldeneye being a 1st person shooter, Die Hard Triligy being a mixture of driving, platforming and lightgun gaming, etc.

Has anyone else noticed how the better Star Wars games are the ones not based on any film plot? Why is X-Wing better than the Phantom Menace tie-in, i wonder??

3. We are not restricted by plot. Why follow the films plot at all? Why not make another version of the film? Instead of being Batman, why not follow Ledger's Joker through the game and finally get the bat? Wouldn't it be much more fun (and original!) to finally see the bad guy win for a change? And with the rich history of some films characters the potential is enormous!

So what film game would i make, you don't ask. Well, i like the idea of changing the film script around a little or following a film characters background. See what you think of these bad-boys;

The Hitcher You play as the Hitcher, not the innocent good guy. You're not escaping the bad guy, you have to hunt the good guy whilst evading the police! Why not make stages based upon both the film and others based upon other towns and new victims? Chase them through their houses, across towns, in cars, through woods - the possibilities are endless!

Tombstone Think about it: rich historical backstory, classic wild western film and no-one on TDC seems to make cowboy games! Combine horseback riding, card and whiskey-drinking mini-games and a grand-finale lightgun-style shooting ending and you're on to a winner!!

Star Wars Since Lucas Arts seems to be pre-occupied with making rubbish games on the poorer newer trilogy, why not take the bull by the horns and make that Han Solo simulator, the Boba Fett fan game or the Star Wars: A New Hope game we all want!

So these examples are not everyone's cup of tea, but the possibilities are endless and even the worst film could be made into a great game. Of course, there are people on TDC who have successfully made film-style games that aren't actually based on any specific films; the atmosphere created by Carnivorous id in HardCity the chronicals of Max Slade show just how good these games could be. Though it has its faults, no-one can argue with the effort and the little touches gone into this game. If film games had half the atmosphere of this little gem then maybe i wouldn't have written this article!

So to conclude, there are many reasons why we - as indie game developers - should stick our necks out and make the film game the commercial game companies cannot be bothered to make. Let's do those films some justice for once! Let's make that Rambo game!!